Princeton explosion under investigation

Friday

Dec 28, 2012 at 6:00 AM

By Linda Bock TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

There are no signs of foul play in the explosion in a Ball Hill Road house that claimed the life of the occupant Thursday, a spokesman for District Attorney Joseph P. Early said this morning. The resident, Rick Conway, 61, was the only person home at the time of the fiery blast.

“We believe this was some sort of gas explosion,” said acting Fire Chief John Bennett. He cautioned, however, that it was still early in the investigation.

“The explosion blew the whole front of the house out,” he said, adding that the split-level home's windows had blown out to the front and back yards, and the entire house was engulfed in flames.

Authorities initially did not release the victim's name pending an autopsy by the medical examiner.

The fire was reported by a woman who was passing by the house when she heard the explosion and called 911. It burned for more than an hour.

Chief Bennett, on vacation from his full-time job when he got the call just after 10:30 a.m., was the first to arrive at the fire. He said he made it to the front door, but the intense fire forced him back. Three additional alarms were immediately struck for manpower and water. Westminster, Holden, Hubbardston and Sterling firefighters quickly arrived to assist Princeton firefighters. Princeton has an on-call department. There are no hydrants in town, so the first firefighters had to break ice on a nearby pond before laying more than 2,000 feet of 5-inch hose, a process that took about 10 minutes, according to Chief Bennett. Rutland and Hubbardston companies brought their water tankers.

Neighbors say Mr. Conway had been living in the house that belonged to his mother, who had recently moved to a nursing home. The house is owned by Daveeda A. Conway, according to town records.

A car and a tractor-trailer rig, which neighbors said belonged to Mr. Conway, were still parked in the driveway as firefighters arrived and worked to extinguish the blaze. Fire officials became worried that someone may have been at home at the time of the fire because the driveway had not been plowed.

“The whole building literally exploded,” Chief Bennett said.

He ordered firefighters evacuated several times because of the intensity of the heat, and the floors in the front of the house were sagging and unstable. About 85 firefighters were at the scene, and there were four accountability checks throughout the fire.

“It's been quite a challenge,” Chief Bennett said of firefighting efforts. An oil tank in the basement caught fire, according to officials, and there were propane tanks inside and outside the house. The propane tank outside the house did not catch fire.

Initial reports of oxygen tanks in the cellar left behind by Mrs. Conway did not turn out to be true, according to state Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan.

Fire Marshal Coan said the exact cause of the explosion was still under investigation by state troopers assigned to the fire marshal's office, and local officials. He said several witnesses gave statements that they heard an explosion.

Fire Marshal Coan said the victim was found in an office in the rear of the home near an adjacent bedroom. When asked if the man may have been trying to escape from the burning building, the fire marshal said he did not know.

“Those are the details we'll never know,” he said.

“It's a disaster,” said Greg Dowdy, a neighbor who shook his head and at times held back tears as he surveyed the wreckage. He said he was on Wachusett Mountain when the explosion occurred, and he came home after his wife called him.

“He was a tractor-trailer driver, and he was home only on the weekends. He seemed to be a real nice guy,” he said.

Another neighbor, Todd Smolenski, said he was clearing snow when he saw thick smoke. His two sons were on vacation from school this week, so the three walked down to the blue house.

“Fire was coming out of every window,” Mr. Smolenski said.

The fire and smoke were fully extinguished by early afternoon, and the mood was quite somber. State fire investigators arrived and cordoned off the area with yellow tape.

Cathy Clary, a neighbor, took pictures of the remains of the house, and wondered what happened to cause the devastation. She knew the man drove a tractor-trailer truck and had lived there for some time.

“What a shame,” Ms. Clary said, as she waited for answers to what happened. She said the fire was the third on Ball Hill Road recently. The other two fires were minor, she said.